China ware was issued
for every light station and lightship. Full sets were issued which contain
more that what we would think of today. Sets would include large serving
pieces, teapots and pitchers bearing the official logo instituted at that
time.

A sampling of some of these dishes are included here. The two types of
official logos on the china are a blue circle pattern and a brown leafy
pattern. These patterns have been difficult to determine when one was
replaced with the other and both sets may have even been made at one time
depending on who was ordering the supplies. The first issued pattern was the
blue pattern and the second was the brown pattern. We have seen another
style at one lighthouse museum but since it was a replica set we are not
sure if it was official or not. We will make attempts to verify this and
publish the results here.

Also featured here is a very rare seen piece of real silver. This piece
has the blue style logo on it engraved on the top of the lid. We have found
no other silver pieces at local Michigan museums to date. This may have been
part of a silver set for official visits from the District Inspector or on
Lighthouse Tenders while the inspector was on board. It could also be
possibly used on a lightship. If anyone has any information on other silver
pieces out there then please forward us the information so we can ad it
here.

Although we don't have an official record of what was issued to a light
station for a comprehensive list of china there are a lot of different
pieces. We also are not sure of how many sets of dishes were used at a
station, if we find out more information we will publish it here. one thing
is for certain, dishes do break and divers have found at the underwater site
of where the lightship Huron was anchored many china pieces that were broken
and thrown overboard. Offshore light stations have also been dove on a
pieces found that were thrown out.

When the Coast Guard took over from the lighthouse service in 1939 all
the china was considered outdated. While some station keepers stayed on as
civilian keepers and used their china ware many other who retired left the
china in the cabinets and then when the Coast Guard came in to man the light
they trashed or broke the old dishes to replace them with their own official
dishes. This was probably common at a lot of stations while some former
keepers took dishes with them when they left. At any rate a lot of pieces
were lost over the years and very few remain in good condition today.

USLHS
Official blue logo on china ware..

USLHS Silver Creamer or Sugar Holder possibly, we are not sure on this
one.

USLHS Silver cream or sugar holder possibly, we are not sure on this
one.

Small Butter Dish.

USLHS Official brown and leaf logo on china ware (above) and a manufacturers
mark located on the bottom of all dishes (below).